J. - National Labor Relations Board

20 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARDCases pending as of June 30, 1939.—Of the 10,682 cases on thedocket during the fiscal year 1938-39, 4,113 cases remained on thedocket on June 30, 1939. Of these pending cases 2,389, or 58 percent,were under investigation in the regional offices. In 211 cases, or 5percent of the total, the investigation had been completed and theinstitution of formal proceedings authorized. Awaiting the commencementof hearings were 129 cases, or 3 percent of the total. In40 cases, or 1 percent, hearings were being held. In 179 cases, or 4percent of the total, hearings had been held but intermediate reportshad yet to be issued. Six hundred and eighty-three cases, or 17 percentof the total were awaiting decision by the Board. Finally, 482cases, or 12 percent of the total, were awaiting either compliance withBoard decisions or certification in cases where elections had beendirected.Decisions issued and cases heard.—In the 12 months covered by thisreport, the Board held hearings in 1,048 cases, all of which wereconducted by trial examiners designated by the Chief Trial Examiner.2 This number includes hearings held both in cases closed bythe Board during the year and in cases still pending before the Boardon June 30, 1939.The Board issued decisions in 893 cases: This figure includes casesin which hearings were held prior to July 1, 1938, as well as casesheard during the fiscal year 1938-39. These cases constitute 8.6 percentof all cases on the docket, excluding the 316 cases which on June 30,1938, had already been decided but were either awaiting compliancewith the decisions of the Board in unf air labor practice cases orcertification after elections directed by the Board. Included in the893 cases decided were 512 cases involving the question of representationand 381 cases involving charges of unfair labor practices.Settlements.—The Board has attempted in every way possible toreduce to a minimum the time elapsing between the initiation andthe closing of a case before it. To that end, it has encouraged theeffectuation of settlements -without recourse to formal Board procedure.The ability of the regional director to secure settlementswithout recourse to formal Board decisions and orders has meant therapid removal from the area of possible industrial conflict of disputeswhich, by their nature, are likely to lead to economic strife. TheBoard is gratified to report, therefore, that in 3,069 cases substantialcompliance with the act was secured by agreement between the partiesprior to the issuance of a Board decision. These cases represent 46.8percent ofall cases disposed of during the period.These settlements, which include the 2,942 cases settled before thebeginning of any formal action and 127 cases settled after formalaction was begun but before the issuance of a Board decision, securedsubstantial complionce with the act.In most instances intervention took place before the disputes involvedhad advanced to a stage of strikes or threatened strikes. Theissues in these disputes—discrimination and union recognition—werethe issues which have caused a large percentage of arikes in theUnited States for many years. It seems safe to assume, therefore,that but for the intervention of the Board a large proportion of2 All data on hearings include only those hearings which were closed on or before June 30,1939. On that date hearings were still in progress in 40 cases.